National bike retailer Performance Bicycle will likely close its doors in Chapel Hill, but local cyclists aren't worried.
“I don't think it's going to affect the biking community all that much,” said Hugh Nezat, president of the UNC Cycling Club. “There are several other smaller, more locally owned bike stores in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh — the whole area. Most of the serious cyclists I talk to tend to go to the local shops.”
Performance Bicycle’s parent company, Advanced Sports Enterprises, Inc., filed for bankruptcy protection last November. Since then, ASE has negotiated in bankruptcy court with potential buyers Head U.K. Ltd., a sports equipment company and a group of liquidators.
ASE Chief Marketing Officer Karen Bliss said there is a chance some of the stores remain open, depending on the intentions of the new owners. However, she shared Nezar's outlook on the business’ closing.
“I think it'll be a loss. It's a bummer because specialty bike shops are few and far between,” Bliss said. “There's definitely other retailers in the area that are worthy, so I don't think they're going to be missing it too much.”
Chapel Hill is home to a variety of bicycle shops such as PARcycles, Recyclery NC and Back Alley Bikes within a couple of miles of campus, so Performance’s closing does not leave consumers without options.
“I would like to think that they'll come to us more since we have less competition,” said Howie Mandel, an employee at The Bicycle Chain in Chapel Hill. “Performance was a discounter — they sold bikes of a slightly lesser quality at lower prices, so those customers are going to still be looking for those kinds of bikes. Over time, we're going to probably expand our inventory to cover that.”
Nezat said though Performance’s discounted prices may be attractive to entry-level consumers, local bike stores can fill that niche.
“When you're new and you're looking into bike stores, I think it's easy to go to a shop like Performance,” Nezat said. “I think there's kind of a perception that if you go to a local store, they're going to look down on you because you're new and you don't know what you're talking about. I suggest you go to a local bike store, talk to some people. They can give you some really good advice.”
